Apparatus for feeding folded or unfolded sheets to printing, folding, or other machines



pl'n 9, 31929.. G, SPlEss IO? APPARATUS FOR FEEDING FOLDED OR UNFOLDED SHEETS v TO PRINTING, FOLDING, OR OTHER MACHINES Filed Oct.v13, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I /mes s L .ttm-Hey pm 9, i929. Q sPlEss 57 APIARATUS FOR FEEDING FOLDED 0R UNFOLDED SHEETS TO PRINTING, FOLDING, OR OTHER MACHINES Filed Oct. 13. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet, 2

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Patented Apr. 9, 129.

GEORG SPIESS, 0F LEIPZIGTPLAGWITZ, GE 1:. 'h1

APPARATUS non. FEEDING Forman on UNFOLDED sirnE'rs To PRINTING, nomma, on OTHER MACHINES.

Applicationled October 13, 1926, Serial No. 141,272, and in Germany March 27, 1925.

`With some types of apparatus for feeding folded or unfolded sheets toa printing,I

folding or other machine each sheet in turn is moved against stationary stops, whereby it is registered and brought to rest, and then, is fed to the machine, or gripped by the mechanism of the machine while in the position of rest. Certain disadvantages arise from the sheet coming to rest. In the first place a substantial loss of time is 1nvolved, or, in'other words for a given rate of feed the movements of the feed mechanism must be more rapid than would be the case if there were no period of rest. There is also a limit to the speed at which the feed mechanism can move, and this may be below the rate at which the machine is capable of taking sheets. In the case of machines capable of using sheets uninterruptedly, for example rotary printing presses, the period of rest involves additional waste. In a rotary press, for example, the circum-A ference of the cylinders must substantially exceed the length of the sheets, to allow for the gap between successive sheets. lI`he second of two sheets, therefore, cannot be registered until the first has been removed from the registering marks, so that between the sheets on thecylinders there is a ga proportional to the angle vthrough whic the cylinders rotate during the changing of sheets at the register stops. Consequently a positionof the cylinder surface is idle, and the circumferential velocity is greater than it would be, for the same output, if there were no periods of restiin the sheet feed.

According to my invention. these defects are removed by arranging that after being detached from the pile, by hand or mechanically, the. sheets are fed to the machine without any .interruption `of their movement while they are being registered. By this means I am able to obtain an increased rate Icaused to strike with its frontpedge registering abutmentsor marks, which travel in the 'direction' of the sheet movement' till with:

drawn from 'the path of the sheet, or I may Fig. 3 is a side view of the apparatus,

and Figs. 4 and 5 are plan views thereof,`

with certain parts of the mechanism in different positions.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, the sheet 1 is moved by rollers 2 towards the gripper roll 8 of a rotary press.` Above its path two endless chains or bands 4: working on pulleys 5, 6 carry a transverse rod 7, toA which are xed fingers or abutments 8. The latter extend into the path of the sheet Vwhen the rod 7 is at thelowest oint in its orbit of travel, or, in` other wor s, when the ortions of the chains carrying the rod' orm part of the lower stretches yof the chains. The abutments travel at approximately the Vspeed at which the sheet is to pass through the press, and their lInovement is timed so that they meet the grippers on the roll 3 and deliver the sheet to the .grippers The feed rollers have a circumferential cylinder 3, and make the bands carry a plurality of appropriately spacedl rods 7 and fingers 8. Alternatively, the circumlference of the cylinder may be 'multiple of the length of the bands. It isnot necessary cumferential velocity of the cylinder.

.Moderate differences do not matter, provided that thevrespective speedsand dimensions are so proportioned that the registering marks coact properly with the grippers. I use the term grippers in a wide sense for any appropriate device which will receive the sheet and take it into the press.

As shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 the bands 4 *are disposed 4above the delivery end of a feed table, whose frame 9 supports the pnl.d

that thev velocity of i vthe abutments/be precisely equal to the cir-v leys. At the receiving end of the feed table there is an elevated, inclined board 10, for supporting the sheets, which arey bent round a roll 11, between the latter and a segmental guide, and extend yon to a board 12, on which the sheets are loosely piled, but from which they are taken separately by friction or wiper wheels 13 of a known kind. Each separated sheet is Vfed at low speed by a set of feed rolls 14, 15 to a set of feed rolls 16, 17, which feed it onwards at higher speed. To allow of the sets of feed rolls working at diHerent speeds the top rolls 15 are lifted, by means of cam.

mechanism, when the top rolls 17 arein operation, and vice versa.

The feed rolls 2 are mounted obliquely in a transversely adjustable frame 18, beyond which, towards the delivery end ofthe table, there is a fixed frame 31 with feed rolls 2adisposed ata less acute angle. Along one side of the frame 18 there is a lateral sheet registering guide or ruler( 23, having a iange 24 for preventing wrinkling of the connected to the other spindle by means of a chain and sprocket wheels 30, so that by turning the wheel 29 both spindles are uniformly rotated.

The'frame 18 has wheels 19 running on rails 20, and can be adjusted transversely of the direction of feed by means of a screw spindle 22 and hand wheel 21.

Fig. 4. shows the frame 18 set for-dealing with sheets of the largest size, and Fig. 5

shows it set for the smallest sheets, the shiftr ing of the guide 23 causing the small sheets to be alinged accurately with the printing machine. f

A blower 32' with downwardly and forwardly directed nozzles 33emits streams of air-which hold the sheets on .the rolls 2 and assist in feeding them forwards.

Owing to the reduced Obliquity of the 55 rol1s2a the sheetsvare thrust withl reduced orce against the guide 23 at the delivery A/ end of the feed table, where the abutments 8 comes into operation. It will be understood that I may so arrange the grlfppers and the abutments 8, and so tune the eed, that the sheets are fed' to the press in practically direct sequence, with `no gap other than that required for the abutments 8.

In practice, the rod 7 is of a length exsheets. Thesheets 'are moved up against* has a hand wheel 29, for turning it, and is ceeding the width of the widest sheet which the machine is designed to handle, and the fingers 8 are slidably mounted on the rod for adjustment toward and from each other to suit the width of the sheets being fed, suitable means being provided to retain the lingers in any positlon of adjustment. The points of these fingers, as shown, extend below the top plane of the rollers 2a, and, consequently, below the plane of travel of the sheets, in order to vensure stopping contact of the sheets with the fingers and to prevent the sheets from passingv beneath the fingers.4 As the rod 7 lies above the level of the gage 23l when in its lowermost position, i. e., when upon the lower stretches of the chains 4, and as both fingers 8' always lie on one and the same side ofthe gage 23, i. e., at the right hand side in Figures 4 and 5, viewed in the direction of travel of the sheet, the rod and fingers may travel without interference from the gage. In order to avoid interference between the 'fingers 8 and rolls 2a, the latter may be grooved or made up of spaced disks to give proper clearance to the fingers on their travel. The blower terminates sufficiently far in rear of roll 5` to prevent contact of the rod 7 and fingers l8 therewith.

For dealing with sheets of different lengths appropriate adjustments of the registering and feed devices are made. Havmg thus fully described my invention, I claim:

1. 'An apparatus for feeding sheets from a pile'to a printing, folding or other machine comprising means `for taking the sheets separately from the pile, a feeder em-v bodying obliquely' arranged feed rolls for feeding the sheets taken fromthe pile, the feed rollswhich are near the delivery end of the feeder being less oblique than the precedingfeed' rolls, a lateral sheetregistering i guidealong which the sheets are caused to travel by the actionAofthe feed rolls, abutments movable temporarily into the path of the sheets and vin the direction of feed for' registering the sheets at their front edges, and means for moving said abutments at a speed slower than that of the feed rolls'. 115

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, with means for placing registering abutments temporarily in the path of the fed sheets and moving them in the direction ofthe feed without stopping the sheets, the said lregistering abutments travelling parallel with the surface of a feed table having means tending `to feedthe sheets at a speed exceeding the temporarily in the path ofthe fedV sheets and 130 l, sf-wak,...

moving them in the direction of the feed without stopping the sheets, the said registering abutments travelling p-arallel with the surface of a feed table having means to feed the sheets at a speed exceeding the speed of the abut-ments, in combination with means for laterally registering the-sheets consisting in a lateral guide, andfeed rolls in the feed table oblique to the guide, the feed rolls near thel delivery end of the feed table being less oblique than the preceding'feed rolls.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1 with means forl placing registering abut-ments temporarily in the path of the fed sheets and moving them in the direction of the feed without stopping the sheets, the said registering abutments travelling parallel with the surface of a feed table having means to feed the sheets at a speed exceeding the speed of the abutments, in combination with means for laterally registering the sheets consisting in a lateral guide, and feed rolls in the feed table oblique to the guide, and means for transversely adjusting the feed table with the feed rolls.

5. Apparatus as claimed Vin claim 1, in which the feeding means includes a feed table, with means for transversely adjusting the feed table. v

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, with mea-ns for adjusting the lateral sheet registering guide angularly to or parallel with the line of feed.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, including a feed table, means for feeding the sheets along said table, and means for feeding the sheets to said table at at least two speeds of progressively increasing character.

In testimony whereof I aIiX my signature.

GEORG SPIESS. 

